


Day Thirteen: Hiding Injuries

by OBlossom



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [13]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, FebuWhump2021, Hiding Injuries, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Sam Wilson, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:34:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OBlossom/pseuds/OBlossom
Summary: Life as a part of the Avengers Initiative went on for Bucky, even with the totally not painful damage to his prosthetic. He and Sam had fallen into some busy work while Nick Fury and Maria Hill were taking care of some “issues” but still had the chance to stretch their legs as recruiters for the new “Junior Avengers,” as Sam liked to call them. Kate Bishop had been an interesting meeting, for sure. And the Spider-Kid had called that week, needing a hand with some drug traffickers working out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, so that had been a nice leg stretch. All in all, there was nothing too strenuous to worry about—no natural or man-made disasters, no super villains, and no global threats. It was a win.The problem came with the arrival of that damned lab experiment—
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138958
Comments: 6
Kudos: 94
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Day Thirteen: Hiding Injuries

**Author's Note:**

> Ever so unintentionally, I'm seeing ways to connect some of my stories together into series... with the addition of a story or two to complete the arc.
> 
> Neato!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> -Colleen xo

Day 13: hiding injury

It started small, not even a big deal, really. It was just a tiny hairline crack in the vibranium socket that Bucky’s arm connected to at the shoulder. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for that damned soldier-serum, Bucky wouldn’t have been able to see it at all. It wasn’t like it caused him any real pain, just the occasional zing (well, maybe more than a zing?) and who’d waste a doctor or engineer’s time for something so unimportant? He could answer that in one- definitely not James Buchanan Barnes, no sir.

He knew that it would be fine. He had an appointment with the specialists in three weeks time for scheduled upgrades and maintenance and if they caught it, they could deal with it then. Problem solved. There was absolutely no need to mess with anyone’s schedule—the issue would be taken care of in good time. Really.

(For the record, if anyone asked, this had nothing to do with any sort of absolute terror at the thought of any sort of medical procedure in the first place—and there was definitely no risk of HYDRA flashbacks or meltdowns or anything like that. Nope. Nope. Nope. Not at all.)

Life as a part of the Avengers Initiative went on for Bucky, even with the totally not painful damage to his prosthetic. He and Sam had fallen into some busy work while Nick Fury and Maria Hill were taking care of some “issues” but still had the chance to stretch their legs as recruiters for the new “Junior Avengers,” as Sam liked to call them. Kate Bishop had been an interesting meeting, for sure. And the Spider-Kid had called that week, needing a hand with some drug traffickers working out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, so that had been a nice leg stretch. All in all, there was nothing too strenuous to worry about—no natural or man-made disasters, no super villains, and no global threats. It was a win.

The problem came with the arrival of that damned lab experiment—

The creature looked to be a cross between a gorilla and a sloth, which wasn’t even the weirdest hybrid they’d seen. It was no taller than eight feet so that was a win. It also wasn’t spitting acid, puking up slime, dividing itself into clones, or eating people, so yeah, it was a good day. The only problem he and Sam could see was that it was strong... like ‘muscles rippling under hairy back’ strong. 

“Okay, Bucky, same as last time! I’ll go high and you go low, and take that sucker down, got it?”

“Got it.” Bucky readied the metal cables to restrain its legs and they were off. 

It was perfect, sorta’ like outta that big monkey movie with Faye Ray. Sam was flying just out of reach and distracting the creature while Bucky cinched the cable around its ankles, catching it off guard and bringing it down to the ground. Sam swooped lower, and had managed to grab one of its arms while Bucky kept it pinned. 

It was all going according to plan... until the beast finally figured out what they were a coordinated assault and started fighting back... hard. 

Even face down on the ground with a super soldier’s knee to its neck, this thing was causing damage. Concrete crumbled where his flailing legs, still bound, came crashing into a building. Its unbound arm got away from Sam and then, without warning, Sam was flying ass-over-tea kettle into the side of a food truck and the creature was trying to stand. 

Not hesitating, Bucky jumped onto its back, trying to force it back onto its belly. There was no way they were losing all of this progress. He grabbed the loose end of the cable already on the one wrist and was almost to the other arm when all hell broke loose.

Apparently this was NOT only a sloth/gorilla hybrid. Bucky would’ve guessed that there was alien DNA of some sort, if he’d been asked, because there was nothing on this green earth that could dislocate its own shoulder on purpose and then use that arm to reach up and behind itself to grab ahold of Bucky—well, Bucky’s vibranium arm.

His vision whited out from the pain lancing through every nerve on the left side of his neck and torso.

He short circuited for a second.

It was—

He couldn’t—

Holy Hell, he hoped that he wasn’t the one screaming.

And then he couldn’t breath as the pain of impact overwhelmed him as the creature smashed him into the ground.

He succumbed to the darkness.

* * * * * *

“Are you done with nap, Snow White?” Sam nudged at him with his boot. “There’s some SHIELD agents that would like some information on our new pet before they take it away.”

Bucky blinked, and squinted against the sun outlining Sam standing over him. “Ah, shit,” he muttered and forced himself to sit up. His head swam, and for a second, Bucky thought for sure he’s go down again, but the lightning pain through his vibranium arm and shoulder were keeping him present in the here and now.

And it really sucked.

He wasn’t sure what Sam saw, but Sam was suddenly crouching in front of him and doing that ‘assessing’ thing that he did. “Hey, man, you okay? That thing clocked you pretty good, huh?”

Bucky shook off the cobwebs and smiled, “Yeah, buddy but I’m okay.” 

Sam definitely didn’t believe him.

“Really, Sam. I don’t think I even have a scratch on me!” He held out his arm to prove it.

“Riiiiight, because I’m gonna believe you just because you said so.” Sam scoffed.

“Shut up and help me stand up!” Bucky laughed off Sam’s disbelief. “Of course I’m gonna look like a dumbass sitting here!” He extended his hand and waited. 

Bucky must have been convincing because Sam nodded, said, “Fine.” and stood up, grabbing his hand and giving a yank to get Bucky to standing.

Bucky only stumbled a little.

Sam shifted to stand beside him, preparing to take some weight. “Are you sure you’re good? We can get you to medical and have’em check you out without all these SHIELD grunts getting in your face.”

With his head clearing more, Bucky could see all the SHIELD agents milling around; some curious about the creature, but more of them still curious about the ex-HYDRA asset turned good guy. He just ignored them and put on a false bravado. “Nah, we’re gonna be too busy figuring out what to call that thing!” 

Sam beamed. “That’s right!” He turned his attention to the agents. “Hey! You! SHIELD agents!”

The majority stopped what they were doing and waited for him to go on.

Sam pointed to them all, “We call dibs on naming that thing, got it?”

Bucky snorted, “I like Slothilla, myself... but I’m not totally sold on it.” 

Sam heard him, turned back and glared, “We are not doing that Brangelina shit! C’mon!” He exclaimed. “This is a chance for vengeance! To piss someone off that you have waited a lifetime to get back at.” Sam got real quiet, then looked around to make sure no one was listening. “I was thinking of naming it Manfred after my drill sergeant in Basic.”

Bucky laughed loud at that then grasped Sam’s shoulder. “No creature deserves the name Manfred, Sam. Not even that drill sergeant.” They turned in tandem, heading away from the day’s destruction, with Bucky keeping hold. “Let’s go. I’ve got to get this goroth fur off of me.”

* * * * * * 

It had been a long day by the time they’d finished up with paperwork and acting as liaison between SHIELD and local law enforcement. Both men were determined to call it done. They’d dragged themselves toward their respective personal quarters, and were about to part ways when Sam asked one more time, “Are you sure you’re good, Buck?” He couldn’t seem to contain himself. “You were laid out like a pancake when I found you.”

Rolling his eyes, Bucky turned away from the door he desperately wanted to open and clapped back with, “Better that than a spaghetti noodle to the wall, pal.”

Yes, they were six year olds. 

Sam stopped short at that, then barked a laugh. “That’s it, no more cooking channel for you.”

Bucky shook his head, “Alright, alright. I keep telling you, I’m good. I’m just gonna get some stuff done and then pack it in for the night. So go.” He shooed him away. 

With one last scrutinizing stare, Sam turned toward his own quarters. He waved a hand in farewell as he walked away, but called out. “Fine! But if you need me, you be sure to call me, okay?”

He replied with, “Get lost,” and then finally escaped into his quarters where he could finally let down the act.

He’d hoped for relief when he removed his prosthetic, but none came. 

He’d hoped for relief with a hot shower to loosen the tension he could feel accompanying the pain across his chest, shoulder blades, and neck, but none came.

He’d finally gotten some relief with the super-soldier painkillers he’d kept in his nightstand for emergencies... and this was an absolute emergency.

As the pain receded to a dull ache, an exhaustion Bucky hadn’t felt in a long time washed over him, and as he fell into sleep at last, he hoped for continued relief in the morning. 

* * * * * *

A beam of light stretched across his face, forcing him to wake up before he was ready. 

The clock on Bucky’s nightstand told him that it was far too late for him to be sleeping, but the raging fever and body aches told him that it didn’t matter one iota. 

This was not good... not good at all.

He knew that he had some training simulations to run with some new recruits in the gym at... at... and the thought drifted away.

Bucky didn’t think to try and grab it.

He did grab ahold of the blanket and toss it aside in a fit of discomfort.

It was so damned hot.

Bucky slept some more.

* * * * * *

A knock on his door forced him awake for a second time. 

“Up and at’em, cyborg! You’ve already missed training AND breakfast! Let’s go! We’ve got shit to do!” Sam banged on the door again.

Bucky croaked out, “Sam?” 

Of course, Sam couldn’t hear that, and knocked again, “Bucky? You alive in there?”

Bucky couldn’t make himself answer a second time.

“Hey, FRIDAY? Is Bucky in his quarters?”

FRIDAY responded, “Sergeant Barnes is currently located in his private quarters.”

Bucky could swear he heard a huff of frustration in the hallway and he inhaled deep and closed his eyes to sleep again.

“Is there a reason,” Bucky’s eyes startled open as Sam resumed, “That he is not answering the door? And I swear on my mother’s underpants, if it’s because he’s taking a shit—“ 

“Sergeant Barnes is still in bed...”

“Are you ki—“ Sam started, but FRIDAY wasn’t done.

“... with a fever of 103.6F and climbing incrementally. He is also suff—“

Sam interrupted the AI again, this time barking out, “FRIDAY! Emergency medical override, Charlie-Alpha-2-2-4-9. Unlock the door!”

“Emergency override accepted.”

Bucky could hear his door lock automatically disengage. He didn’t know how he felt about that and then didn’t think about it at all as he started to dose again, even for the movement in his room.

A hand brushed against his forehead while another took hold of his wrist.

“Sam?”

“Shut up, asshole. I’m busy here,” He snapped at Bucky. “FRIDAY, run a complete scan. Tell me what I’m looking at here.”

“Running scan.” FRIDAY intoned, and then, “Initial scans are indicating that there is damage to the vibranium shoulder socket. Due to the slow rate of oxidization in vibranium, I cannot tell you when the damage occurred. I can, however, surmise that this affected the integrity of the fit of the socket, and said damage caused inflammation to and under the skin, which has resulted in the formation of an abscess. Recent tearing of tissue in the area of the abscess has introduced the infection directly into the bloodstream, causing the acceleration of symptoms. Blood work and ultrasound will confirm the presence of infection and its rate of spread. It is most likely that intravenous antibiotics will be recommended.”

Bucky couldn’t follow. “Wha’s that mean?” He looked down at what Sam was doing.

Sam was distracted, having moved on to poking and prodding at the inflamed skin around the vibranium. “It means that you had a small booboo that you ignored like a dumbass and it became a big booboo.”

“Booboo?” 

“Yeah, a big ol’ puss pocket. Geez.” Sam caught sight of Bucky’s sheets. “Serious, Bucky? There’s blood and puss on the sheets! How do you miss that?”

Bucky shook his head, “It wasn’t there before—promise!” Bucky pulled himself up from the bed for the first time to take a look, which was a huge mistake on Bucky’s part. His head swam and nausea overwhelmed him. “Sam?” he gulped. 

Sam was either a mind reader or really observant, didn’t matter which, because a garbage pail was thrust into Bucky’s hands in the nick of time. Thank goodness he didn’t have much to bring up. 

Holy shit, did he feel awful. 

“FRIDAY, please alert med bay that we need assistance transporting a pain in the ass.” Sam called up to the ceiling.

A pause and then, “Request relayed and confirmed. ETA on medical personnel and wheelchair is three minutes.”

At that, Bucky started moving, trying to get up out of the bed. “Nope,” was all he said before he was making an effort to stand up. The key word there was effort. He did get his feet on the ground, made his way up onto his feet, only to drop straight to the floor.

Sam rushed around the bed to him, “Bucky, c’mon, let’s get you off the floor.” He reached out to help steady him.

Bucky pulled away, trying to crawl from him.

“Bucky, what the hell...”

“Not going,” was all Bucky could utter before he stopped and laid himself down on the floor. “M’not sick. Don’t need to go.”

Sam looked at Bucky, then called out again. “FRIDAY, please ask the medic to wait on entering. I’ll tell him when to come in.”

“Message relayed, Dr. Banner confirms that he will wait for an invitation to enter Sergeant Barnes’ quarters.”

Sam gave a slow whistle at that. “You brought the Big Guy out of his lab. Nice.”

Bucky glared at him, “Jus’ go, Sam. Drop off the drugs and I’ll take ‘em,” Bucky promised as he settled, using his discarded blanket as a makeshift pillow.

“So you admit you’re sick?”

“Back off, Sam,” Bucky just wanted to sleep.

It took Sam no time to call him out. “Damn. You’re scared of doctors, aren’t you?”

Bucky closed his eyes and ignored him.

“Look, this’ll be nothing.” Sam tried to smooth over his concerns. “If you listen to the doctor, I’d bet you’ll be sleeping in your own bed by tomorrow night.

Bucky shook his head, ‘no.’

“Bucky,” Sam got down low on the floor with him. “Bud, you’re looking really bad. I bet if you asked real nice, they’d give you something so you’d sleep through the worst of it.”

THAT seemed to be what pushed Bucky over the edge because, even with his exhaustion and nausea, he was crab crawling back into a corner of the room with his eyes squeezed shut. 

And then realization dawned on Sam. “Bucky, when’s the last time you were seen by a doctor?”

He opened his eyes, just a little, and answered, “Wakanda.”

Sam smiled. “They’ve got a pretty nice set up there, don’t they?”

Bucky hesitated to answer and then nodded ‘yes.’

“And I’d bet you had Shuri with you a lot of the time, huh?” When Bucky didn’t respond, Sam continued. “If she isn’t the opposite of every doctor I’ve ever been in contact with, I don’t know what is...”

Bucky still didn’t speak.

“And she helped you get better, after... everything, right? ”

“Yes.”

“So tell me why you’re not okay with seeing a doctor now? You’re obviously sick.”

Bucky closed his eyes again. It was getting harder to focus but he had to tell someone. “They only worked on the... the programming.” He pushed out as he tapped at his temple. “I was still asleep, recovering from the cryostasis when they did this.” He gestured to his arm. “So I didn’t have to deal with all of the...”

“All of the doctors?” Sam filled in.

“Yeah. But I knew Shuri was there so...”

“Hey, can I come sit beside you?” Sam asked.

Bucky nodded and Sam repositioned himself on Bucky’s right, trying to keep from hurting him anymore. 

They sat quiet for a minute, maybe two, when Sam spoke up again. “So this is probably more of a HYDRA thing than a doctor thing, huh?”

Bucky dropped his head back to rest against the wall. “Aren’t they both the same?”

“Not really, if you think about it... I mean what was the worst thing about HYDRA?” Sam asked... and then thought on what he said, “I mean, all of it is shit, but what scared you the most?”

Bucky turned to look at Sam, “Is this Therapist Sam now?”

Sam gave Bucky a light cuff across his right arm. “Don’t be a jerk, just answer.”

Bucky thought on it for a solid minute, his fear honing his focus. “I think it’s that I’m alone. Always—and then they were poking and stabbing... no matter how much I...” Bucky stopped that train of thought. “Which was why Shuri was a gift. She promised she’d stay, even if I was unconscious, and she did. ” Bucky smiled sadly at the memories. 

Sam wasn’t up to speed on all of Bucky’s experiences in Wakanda, but he knew enough, and hoped he wasn’t stepping out of line, “Hey, I know I’m not Shuri, but I can sure as hell sit my ass in a chair and keep you company... if you want?” 

Bucky sat quietly, contemplating. “You wouldn’t be able to leave at all, though. I can’t ask you to do that?”

“You’re not asking, partner, I’m offering.”

Bucky shifted a little and then, “You really wouldn’t leave?”

Sam nudged Bucky’s good shoulder, “I won’t leave—except to piss... and we have to stop at my quarters on the way to the med bay so I can grab a deck of cards and that stack of reports we’re supposed to be working on. But yeah, I won’t leave, not at all.”

Bucky seemed to sag and the looked sheepish as he confessed, “Sam, I don’t know if I can get off the floor.” 

Sam stood up, then looked toward the door. “Bucky, the Hulk is on the other side of that door. If you think for one second I’m gonna mess up my back picking you up...”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky responded. “Go and get Dr. Banner. I feel like shit.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lucky 13.
> 
> Done.


End file.
